2018 DC Cherry Blossom Watch

A warm February got the cherry buds off to an early start, and the NPS was initially forecasting a very early peak bloom. But as much cooler-than-normal temperatures arrived in March, and stayed, the process was slowed down considerably and the peak bloom prediction was pushed back a couple more times. The cherry blossoms eventually reached peak bloom on April 5. That was followed by cool and calm temperatures that kept the blossoms around for about ten days further.

The cherry blossom snow is coming down more steadily now as petals get knocked off in the breeze. The trees aren't looking as white and fluffy as they had been, especially up close, but as of late this morning they were still looking pretty.

A week after peak bloom the cherry blossoms are still looking very pretty, but if you look up close you can clearly see that they're past their prime now. More petals have been coming off, and more green leaves are poking through.

Petals are starting to come off, but for now it’s a very gentle pace. The cold weather has slowed development down and kept the green leaves at bay. So the cherry blossoms are still holding up well and looking beautiful.

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom now. While not every tree is fully out, most are. They're on track for peak bloom in the coming days, and the National Park Service yesterday tweaked their peak bloom prediction again, bringing it forward to Thursday through Sunday (April 5-8).

Sunny and warm conditions through the weekend brought more flowers out, and they're looking lovely as they move into full bloom. It now looks increasingly likely that peak bloom will come ahead of the predicted dates.

If you head down to the Tidal Basin this weekend you won’t have any trouble whatsoever finding cherry blossoms out. The warm weather of the past few days has worked its magic in bringing more flowers out.

It’s now getting much easier to find at least a few blossoms coming out. Quite a few of the trees are starting to show a few flowers each, and while it's still only a tiny proportion of the total, they're easy to find all the way around the Tidal Basin.

The slow trickle continues. It's becoming a little easier to find some scattered flowers out this morning, but most of them aren't there yet. But if milder temperatures arrive later in the week, as expected, it will inject some energy into their progress.

There's not much new on the trees since yesterday, but I've been getting a lot of questions about things like how this week's weather forecast will affect things and how this coming weekend is shaping up. So I'm focusing below mostly on answering some of the most common questions.

There's been steady progress, but with the continuing cool temperatures it has been slow. There are some flowers starting to come out on the so-called indicator tree, but it's not yet in full bloom. The vast majority still have some work to do before they're getting really close to blooming.

The buds are still doing their thing and still have a way to go before blooming. There's some unsettled weather coming up over the next week or so, but it shouldn't pose too many problems for the cherry trees.

Around the Tidal Basin, the buds are clearly making progress. And, as usual, the so-called indicator tree is marching ahead of the others. It's typically a week to 10 days ahead. Stay tuned for the National Park Service peak bloom prediction to be issued later this morning.

The short version is that there's still not much to report. The cherry trees are still in their winter mode and aren't showing any signs of the buds developing yet. No peak bloom forecasts have been issued yet. Expect those to start coming in about 4 to 5 weeks.

The first update in the 2018 Cherry Blossom Watch! For now, the Tidal Basin is covered in ice and there's nothing to see in terms of bud development. It's still too early to have any real idea of when the cherry blossoms will reach peak bloom in 2018, but here's a rundown of where things stand.

The short answer is that there's no easy answer. On average, the peak bloom occurs sometime around the last week or so of March through the first week or so of April. But precisely when during that period varies year to year. So here's the longer version.

Licensing & Prints

Looking for travel stock photos or prints? I might be able to help. You can search my collection here: If you already have a buyer account with Alamy and would prefer to use that, you can search my images directly here.